We look at past models to guess the latest Type R's future

Fourth gen. Honda Civic Type R to make world debut at 2014 Geneva Motor Show

Single rendering reveals hatchback with rear wing and fender flares

Platform could be home for announced VTEC turbo motor

Previous versions could indicate what's to come on the hot hatch

Rejoice Honda faithful, for the red badges that send shivers up and down your spine will adorn a new Honda Civic Type R (CTR) - at least in Europe anyway. The Big H today released details on its 2014 Geneva Motor Show booth lineup, and in addition to the most recent version of the NSX concept and a preview of its livery for works teams in the 2014 World Touring Car Championship, the carmaker will also be displaying a concept model of the next CTR.

Hopefully when the concept makes its world debut on March 4 Honda will be forthcoming with a few more details, because for this tease it stayed pretty mum about what will be in/on the next CTR. From the artist rendering, the car looks to be a three-door hatch with a rear wing and a bit of fender flaring, but that's all we could really see from the single image issued. From earlier developments, we also know Honda could put one of its new VTEC turbo power plants into the next Type-R.

Looking back at the entire arc of CTRs produced might also provide clues about what's ahead for the front engine, FWD platform. Read on to see how each Civic Type R stacks up from the factory, and comment below with what you think the next one will rock under the hood.

There are two iterations of the third generation CTR, the four-door sedan FD2 chassis sold in Asia and the three-door hatch FN2 chassis, which is for the Euro market. Both stick with the tried and true K20 mill and six-speed box, but the sedan wins both the power war, getting 221 ponies to the FN2's 198, and the mass war, weighing in at 2,793 pounds while the hatch comes in at 2,965. For the first time, the JDM Civic Type R was sold as a four-door sports sedan rather than a three-door hot hatch.

The EP3 chassis stayed the course with the hatch but packed on the pounds, some 500, to a curb weight of 2,912. The powertrain was upgraded to the two-liter K20 and a six-speed transmission, with output reaching 212hp on the JDM model. Europeans were saddled with a 197hp version of the K20, the differences including crankshaft balancing, different intake manifold, exhaust manifold, higher-lift camshafts, higher-compression pistons, chrome-moly flywheel and ECU programming on the Japanese EP3 CTR.

Known informally as the EK9 in chassis speak, this CTR came as a three-door hatchback and weighed in at a relatively stealth 2,400 pounds (weight that ballooned as later generations were produced). Like the Integra R, the Civic boasted less sound deadening for weight savings, a hand-ported B16 engine, limited-slip diff and a close-ratio five-speed gearbox. It also flossed a strategically seam welded chassis and one of the highest outputs per liter of displacement, 182 horsepower from 1,600cc.